BRISBANE, Australia – Christmas Carols events, held each year in Australia's major cities during the summer month of December, are generally performed on outdoor stages and attract large audiences. The IGA Lord Mayors Christmas Carols event, held at the Brisbane Riverstage, featured performances by Guy Sebastian, Marina Prior, James Morrison, Troy Cassar-Daley and Paulini.
Sam Walters, lighting director/operator for that event, chose LSC Clarity as his main lighting controller, citing " the efficiency in the way it handles moving lights and LED programming."
Although he was a relatively new user, Walters wasn't flummoxed.
"This was my first real outing with Clarity, and although the software is extremely powerful, I didn't find it complicated at all. Actually, I would have only looked at the manual three to four times during the whole programming session."
Brisbane Concert Lighting was again the main equipment supplier, supplying all control from LSC Lighting Systems, including the Clarity (using six DMX universes) with two VX20 wings, five e24 Dimming Systems, five Delta Power Distros and three Delta DMX splitters.
The LSC control equipment was used for 44 Martin Moving Lights, 32 LED Par 64s, 32 LED strips and more than 72 Fresnels, Pars and Profiles.
"Clarity's effects engine is extremely powerful and doesn't leave you wanting anything," Walters said. "The LED pixel mapping is a massive time saver and allowed us to achieve really complicated looks," he added.
"The 32 LED strips were mounted behind Perspex panels in the stairs," Walters continued. "Being able to run video and JPEG images through the stairs was such a big hit and gave the cameras some really interesting backdrops.
"‘Freesets' has changed the way I do palettes for moving lights," Walters added. "Being able to work with just one fixture creating all the colors you want and then being able to apply that color to the entire rig of movers and LEDs was extremely impressive. Using scaled ‘Freesets' (eg; A rainbow from Red to Blue) through the LEDs down the stairs was a really fun way to get interesting color textures in the set with minimal effort."
LSC Clarity was launched late last year and has been used so far for television, touring, events, education and worship market segments. The Clarity line of products include the VX Series Programming and Playback wings, the QX range of USB-DMX convertors and the Clarity Lighting and Media control software range.
"I have always been hesitant when it came to computer based lighting software but the VX20 wings do a great job of bridging the gap, you feel like you're driving a real console," Walters said. "Having the wings is a must when operating ‘on the fly' and is great for getting all the cues on faders and under your finger tips," he added.
"LSC gave me great support in getting up and running and removed any fear I had about placing the software on such a high profile event. The software is extremely impressive and I look forward to seeing where it ends up in the future as development continues."
Gear List:
1 LSC Clarity CT/U using 6 Universes of DMX
2 VX20 Clarity Wings
5 LSC e24 Touring Dimmers
2 LSC Delta 6 x 20a Distro
3 LSC Delta 12 x 13a Distro
3 LSC Delta DMX Splitter
12 Martin MAC2000 Profile II
12 Martin MAC600
8 Martin MAC550
12 Martin MAC250 Wash
32 PAR 64 LED Tri Color
32 LED Strip 1m
28 2k Castor Fresnel
40 KUPO PAR 64 MFL
4 Source 4 Profile
For more information, please visit www.lsclighting.com.au.
